A look at great books about the Midwest, Parisian jazz and Athens’s indie rock scene on film, advice from Kara Walker to young artists, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Advice From Kara Walker, Midwestern Novels, Jazz on Film, Adam Johnson, and More
Weekend Bites: Hipster Punchlines, Pulp Documentary, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Maxwell Neely-Cohen’s Playlist, and More
Thoughts on the Pulp documentary, a Maxwell Neely-Cohen playlist, notes on the hipster as punchline, Kelly Sue DeConnick on comics, an excerpt from Juliet Escoria’s new collection, and more for your weekend reading.
#tobyreads: Oceans, Sonic and Otherwise
It took a lengthier-than-expected internal debate to convince myself that I shouldn’t name this week’s column for Isis’s 2002 album Oceanic, if only because I’d wager that most of you would look at me (or this column) with some bafflement. “Yes, Toby, we get it–but what do whaling disasters have to do with experimental metal bands?” So instead: metaphor, unreliable narrators, Aphex Twin, and cannibalism.
Poetry in Motion: The 9 Sports Books Coming in 2014 That Will Murder You if Not Purchased
Checkers: 5,000 Years of Blood, Concussions, and Mayhem by T. Thaddeus Muffintop (March 11; Piddle & Sons, $24.95) Once thought a light-hearted romp of jumping and “Crowning”, the game of Checkers has in recent years revealed a dark side. T. Thaddeus Muffintop (of the popular Grantland column “Butterscotch-Fueled Outrage”) goes undercover to reveal a underground culture within professional Checkers, rife with brutal thumb violence, narcotics inhaled off game boards, and one elite player’s deadly addiction to that other Checkers: the […]
Afternoon Bites: Richard Pryor Biography, Colin Winnette’s Novellas, New Dum Dum Girls, Fiennes on Dickens, and More
Roxane Gay on a new biography of Richard Pryor; Ralph Fiennes talks Charles Dickens; new music from Dum Dum Girls; and more.
Poetry in Motion: World Series Haiku
Cardinals bullpen. Youth’s flowing fountain runs deep, Like hot, fresh cheese fries. Sports bar bathroom reeks, Yet within: community. Bros pee, united. Love thy neighbor, dawg. Boston: The Pixies. Sam Adams. St. Lou: Jon Hamm. Busch.
Poetry in Motion: Vince McMahon and W.H. Auden Solve the Government Shutdown
The first thing that I’m reminded of when watching the Congress in crisis is my lifelong love of professional wrestling’s broad theatrics. Telling someone that you love wrestling is akin to what I expect it’s like to announce a foot fetish. Most recoil and wince, the rest ask if you prefer the big toe or the pinkie.
Afternoon Bites: Molly Crabapple Interviewed, Teju Cole, Leonora Carrington’s Writings, Artisanal Pickles, and More
Molly Crabapple talks with Talking Points Memo, Teju Cole on Lagos, Juliet Escoria on writing her first book, a look at the writings of Leonora Carrington, and more.